The Fight

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Jolly Holiday Blog Hop- Day 1

Hello bloggers! Welcome to the Henry Glass Jolly Holiday Party! I am the first of the Henry Glass designers to post. Thanks for coming! We have lots of great prizes so be sure to follow all week.

Each of the designers is going to answer a few questions about the holidays. Then we will share a project we designed just for you. Let's get started!

First, the questions:

1. What is your favorite holiday food?

Zupfe bread. This Swiss bread is braided and it's so pretty! (And yummy.) I love making it and eating it. It's a favorite of mine because my mom was Swiss and it's a family tradition. I'll share the recipe with you in a few weeks. You're going to love this.

2. Does your family have a favorite holiday tradition?

So many! We love decorating, preparing, cooking, eating, and, playing, and just getting together. But one of my favorite family traditions is making paper snowflakes to hang from the ceiling. This started as our family tradition because Randy and I got married in December and our reception was at my home. We hung paper snowflakes from the ceiling in the whole first floor. It was magical! Every year since then, (that's 35 years now--WOW--times flies!) we have cut and hung snowflakes. Click here to see the snowflakes last year. If you want to see the tutorial, click here.

3. Did you like or hate sitting on Santa's lap?
Are you kidding? Do you know how long ago that was?

4. Was there a gift you really desperately wanted?

I don't remember ever wanting anything in particular, I just wanted to be surprised, and Santa always surprised me.

5. What's your favorite holiday movie?

It's A Wonderful Life, of course. I watch it at least 4 times each December, and never get tired of it. After all, George Bailey IS the richest man in town.

6. Favorite holiday song?

Handel's "Messiah. " I put on the soundtrack when's no one's home and sing along at the top of my lungs. With the symphony and huge choir--there's nothing like it. I also love all kinds of Christmas music, especially Rock and Roll!

7. Do you make many holiday presents?

If I make them, they're almost never finished. So it's almost better not to get a homemade present from me!

8. Would you prefer a large fully decorated tree or one like Charlie Brown's tree?

I love a large tree. In one of our homes, we had a two-story family room. So we had an eighteen foot Christmas tree. It was awesome! (despite the fact that it fell down during a gathering of about 60 ladies one night. All the men in the neighborhood had to come help put it up again!)

9. If you could go back back in time, when would you say was your most favorite holiday memory?

Christmas as a child was magical. And my Dad loved it just as much as I did. Every year my Dad wrote NOEL on the side of our home with Christmas lights. Our home was on a hill and the lights could be seen from anywhere in town. He put large speakers on the roof and played Christmas music every night through our stereo system. Each evening we would get calls from folks asking us to turn the music down so that their children could sleep. Then we would get calls asking us, "Where's the Christmas music tonight?" My dad was a legend in our little town.

10. Do you like a big family gathering, or do you prefer a small dinner followed by hot chocolate by the fire?

Since I have a large family, its hard not to have a a big gathering. After all, the best part about the holidays is getting together with your loved ones!

Okay, so now it's time to share my project with you. I designed a little pillow--

"Holiday Lane"

All those little houses are waiting in the snow for Santa's arrival! You can make this into a pillow, like I did, or you could frame it or use it as a table runner. So many possibilities....

The piecing is simple and a few embellishments complete the fun.

Remember, this is a free pattern so just download it and enjoy!

HOLIDAY LANE PATTERN

I made this little pillow to go with another Christmas pattern I have. "Christmas Village" is a lap quilt, and it just needed a pillow, don't you think?

Christmas Village

Now on to the prizes: To qualify to win the Grand Prizes from Henry Glass, visit each blog this week (I will post a schedule) and collect the key words. Mine for today is TURKEY. (How's that for a creative way to tell you?) Post the list of key words in a comment on the Henry Glass blog between Nov. 20 and Nov. 26.

I am also giving away a prize right here! Just sign up to "follow" my blog and leave me a comment. At the end of the week I will choose a winner for a fat quarter bundle of my newest fabric line, Sorbet Garden. (I used some of this line in my pillow.)

Note: I am offering kits of the "Holiday Lane" pillow on my website for $24.

What an adorable pillow! Your HOP is off to a great start! Thanks for sharing all of your fun Christmassy ideas. Plus the snow on the ground this morning really adds to the mood. I've loved singing/performing Handel's Messiah each year since High School, and will get to solo again with my community sing-in next month, "O Thou, That Tellest Good Tidings"

I am now following you. I look forward to your Zupfe bread recipe. My dad was Swiss and I remember having what we called Swiss Cakes and Bretzel growing up. Swiss cakes were a fried dough sprinkled with powdered sugar. If you know what I am talking about and know the Swiss name I would sure love to know. I have never had zupfe bread so will definitely try to make it. I have my grandmother's recipe book and bretzel iron and am going to attempt those and the Swiss cakes this year for the holidays. We are going to host a family get together between Christmas and New Years so want to surprise everyone with the Swiss foods. Sorry this is so long. The pillow is so cute I love it.

I'm already a follower which is how I tripped into this blog hop and am certainly glad I did! Your pillow is so cute and with the quilt it's a great holiday home decoration (that's useful!) Great inspiration. Can't wait to see what everybody creates and shares. I'd love those fabrics as a bonus too, of course!

I just started to follow your blog but I can see that it will be one that I follow closely. I love the paper snowflakes on the ceiling. My nephew has FIVE young children and it seems like a great decorating/family craft thing for them to do some night. Thank you also for being so generous and offering a chance to win those great fabrics.

Jill - I loved reading your answers to the questions and your Dad sounds like a hoot!! Thank you for sharing something about you!! This is going to be a great blog hop if your post is any indication!! And your Christmas pillow is just simply darling - thank you for the pattern!! Kris

I love the Henry Glass blog hop- there are always cool projects and some very nice prizes to win. What a pretty array of fabrics in your new line. Thanks for participating and for your generous giveaway.Regards,Anna

...and the truth shall set you free...it floored me to hear you admit it..you struggle to make gifts too?? ..for years especially at Christmas I have "felt" obliged to produce hand made gifts (where DID that come from?) And suffered panic attacks and all creativity froze and nothing appeared, feeling such a failure each time. At some point I stopped putting myself through that torture..and you are the very first person I have heard admit it too, THANKYOU!!!

Hello Jill ~ I love the story about your Dad when you were younger. Funny about the calls with the turn the music down and then where IS that music. LOL I guess that was a life lesson for you a long time ago about how you can't please everyone all the time. LOL

Your fabrics are just beautiful and the lap quilt and pillow go very well together. I love the little houses on the pillow. That's a super cute little pillow. I like how it's not one of those huge pillows and would be an easier one to store away to pull out each year.

I simply love your blog. Your Holiday Lane pillow is just perfect for the coming holidays. The Sorbet Garden fabric you used is definitely the right choice. Thank you for the beginning of a fun project.

I'm happy to have found your blog and I am now following you on Google Reader. I'm the mom of nine kids, probably about ten years behind you. MIne are just starting to fly the nest and I have a brand-new 3-year-old who still keeps things young. But now that there are no more diapers, I have found a wee bit of time to learn to quilt. You inspire me!

Wow, Jill!! I love the pillow. I also love Utah, it is a wonderful state. It has all the seasons and so much to do and see. I am new to your blog today and have enjoyed reading the past blogs. I would love to be the winner. I am getting out of my comfort zone and starting to enjoy bright and happy fabrics. I usually work with traditional and civil war fabric. So good luck to ME!!

I'm already a follower; thanks for the snowflake replay-I remember that from last year, and hope to make some this year. I'm actually starting to think about Christmas after reading your post!! Thanks for the pattern and giveaway!

Your fabric is just YUMMY! I'm already a follower. I really enjoy blog hops and seeing all of the wonderful projects and ideas. Just wish I could win a few more hours in my day to make them all! Thanks for the chance to win.

Oh I just Love Christmas Pillows and this pattern is adorable!! Thank~you!! and thanks for the chance to win some of your fabrics!! I am also a blog follower! I hope you have a wonderfully blessed Holiday Season!